Last month in December 2022, I had the pleasurable opportunity to photograph and experience the concerts of Soccer Mommy and Turnover respectively. As a habitual pop and electronica listener, this winter break I go to dust off and revisit my indie rock streak I listen to from time to time with these two acts. My enjoyment of Soccer Mommy stems from her album “Color Theory” and from Turnover, who are best described by their Spotify bio which simply states “listen to the music” I became aware and known for their 2017 album, “Good Nature.”
I witnessed Turnonver’s act first during the break when they visited The Mohawk in my hometown of Austin, Texas. Turnover was joined by the opening act and Austin locals Temple of Angels and also by New Orleans’s Video Age. My first impression of the concert stemmed from the look of the crowd. The venue being comfortably small, I was surrounded by a mix of people who were more emo/goth-aligned with darker clothes, various piercings, and makeup typical to their identity. Another part of the audience was the more indie-looking crowd with their vans, loose graphic tees, and beanies/caps donning their heads. Sprinkled about were regular Joe Schmoes like me who didn’t heavily align with the two present groups. Making conversation with another college kid next to me, I asked if he was a fan of Turnover, to which he replied “not yet.” but was telling me about how the openers sounded either post-punk or yacht rock. A bit bewildered, I asked the same to others around me and was surprised to hear many were in fact here for the same band: Turnover.
Going back to their discography after the concert, I see now that the band constantly changes. Turnover does it so well, genre-hopping from one album to the next, which is either a positive or negative quality depending on your perspective. They came onto the scene with their now-adored album “Peripheral Vision” back in 2015 which has a post-punk, emo sound. Similar to their contemporaries Tigers Jaw and Moose Blood. My introductory album “Good Nature” was in that indie, shoegaze realm. And now, with their latest release “Myself in the Way” they’ve delved into the genres of funk and disco. My songs of choice for this album would be “Myself in the Way”, “Wait Too Long”, and “Stone Station”.
So, making the choice of having Temple of Angels and Video Age open for Turnover was an excellent one. It’s absolutely one of, if not THE highlight of the show. Temple of Angels did a good job warming the crowd up, and singer Bre Morell looked absolutely stunning and passionate belting out to songs like “Cerise Dream” and “Star-Shaped Eyes”. Video Age just blew me away. Complimentary to Turnover’s latest album, Video Age’s synths and guitar riffs bring nothing but a good time. Highly recommend the songs “Shadow on the Wall” and “Blushing” which is a love-filled song that sounds like a warm golden hour.
Following that trend, the opening band for Soccer Mommy, TOPS, was also one of the highlights of Soccer Mommy’s show over at Emo’s Austin. Promoting their new album “I Feel Alive” TOPS gave nothing but a happy, lively performance of their new wave disco-influenced songs. Top choices from the album and the concert would definitely be “Colder & Closer” and “I Feel Alive” to which singer Jane Penny twirled and danced lightheartedly to the song.
As for the main act Soccer Mommy, I was honestly a bit underwhelmed. Much like the Turnover concert, the opening bands came out on top. Which astonished me as both Turnover and Soccer Mommy released strong albums both in product and conception in 2022. “Sometimes, Forever” gives a new side to Soccer Mommy with a gloomier, dark, ambient-heavy, and anti-hero theme throughout the album’s songs. “Myself in the Way” makes me want to drink with friends and dance the night away in some house party. Which makes me ask: “How much should concerts really impact me?” If a concert was great start to finish with an artist I love, that will obviously raise my love, connection, and commitment to that artist. But when it falls short of such, am I then being too touchy if my listening experience is soured whenever Soccer Mommy hops onto my spotify plays? I will say this, both Turnover and Soccer Mommy are musicians true and true, which has its differences from being referred to as a performer. When Soccer Mommy took time in her set to give her backing band a break, and just have it be her and her guitar on stage, that’s when I first felt genuine happiness radiate from her, to the stage, to the audience. So, perhaps even with my fortunate experience of being up close and invited to witness these concerts, the less-than performance from the main acts doesn’t take away the fact respect I have of them as musicians.
